Design

Jaguar design director Ian Callum describes the XK as having 'clean lines, a purposeful stance and exquisite proportions'.

"The fundamental values of Jaguar design do not change," explains Callum. "We took influences from our heritage and evolved them to produce a car that is beautiful, visually fast yet undeniably modern – just as Sir William Lyon's (Jaguar founder) own designs were in their day."

Traditional Jaguar craftsmanship elements have been retained on the all-new Jaguar XK, but it's the use of aerospace technologies that have resulted in the most technically advanced Jaguar production car ever created.

Lightweight Construction

The most far-reaching engineering feature in the all-new XK is its use of Jaguar’s Lightweight Vehicle Technology, the all-aluminium architecture that was introduced with the latest generation XJ saloon.

It is unique in the industry as a complete aluminium monocoque body structure, as distinct from an aluminium spaceframe with separate aluminium exterior panels. Developed from aircraft industry methods, Jaguar’s manufacturing process produces a strong but very light structure that is both riveted and epoxy-bonded.

The new XK takes the Lightweight Vehicle concept a step further with extended use of aluminium castings and extrusions as well as pressed aluminium panels. Its strength and light weight come from both the way the bodyshell is constructed and the use of new jointing technologies developed by Jaguar and its suppliers.

The all-aluminium rear liftback door is strong, light and simple to operate. It pivots on two hinges ensuring the edge of the liftback moves away from the operator’s head as the lid is raised. It also provides excellent rear visibility – rare in the sports coupe field.

Russ Varney, Chief Programme Engineer, Sports Range, explains the philosophy behind the engineering of this grand tourer:

"As a team we worked from day one to ensure that the all-new XK delivered on every target set for the vehicle. In the case of the aluminium monocoque body structure, it delivers great advantages in terms of weight and strength and we were determined to utilise those benefits to produce a sports car with a blend of stunning vehicle dynamics and outstanding comfort."

The all-new XK is manufactured and assembled in a state-of-the-art production facility at Jaguar's Castle Bromwich plant in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom.

Safety

Beyond the body integrity and built-in deformation zones, the all-new XK is also available with a host of other safety solutions for protecting pedestrians as well as car occupants. Those include the shape and construction of the bumpers and bonnet, plus a completely new pedestrian deployable bonnet. This is deployed upwards away from its rear edge, in milliseconds, in the event of a pedestrian impact. This forms a safety zone between the bonnet and the engine and other under-bonnet hard areas to reduce significantly the potential for injuries.

Technical Specification

CHASSIS
Body Riveted and bonded aluminium

ENGINE
Cylinders/valves per cylinder 8/4 Bore/stroke – mm 86/90.3 Capacity – cc 4196 Maximum power – SAE bhp (kW) 300 (224) EEC PS (kW) 298 (219) @ rpm 6000 Maximum torque – SAE lb ft (Nm) 310 (420) EEC lb ft (Nm) 303 (411) @ rpm 4100

Transmission 6-speed automatic. Jaguar Sequential Shift with steering wheel-mounted shift paddles

PERFORMANCE (subject to confirmation)
0-60 mph (0-100 kph) - seconds 5.9 (6.2) Top speed – mph (kph) 155 (250) electronically limited

DIMENSIONS
Length – mm 4791 Width – mm 2070 (incl. mirrors) Height – mm 1322 Wheelbase – mm 2752 Kerb weight – kg 1595